BRUNO ISSUES HOME TRUTHS TO GERS
Gers veteran Alves admits home form is a concern but tells his team-mates they MUST handle pressure
BRUNO ALVES has been there, done it and bought the T-shirt for just about every scenario a footballer can face.
So he isn’t about to panic over Rangers’ fourth home defeat of the season – even if he admits losing so many games on home soil is unacceptable.
St Johnstone added their name to the list of Celtic, Hibs and Hamilton who have all plundered full points from Ibrox this season.
And when you add the draw Hearts and Kilmarnock earned in Govan it all amounts to a colossal 16 points spilled in front of their own fans.
Compare that to only one draw – at Firhill – and a solitary defeat at Dens Park in the league and it doesn’t take a genius to work out Rangers are far more comfortable away from home. That’s where a noisy travelling support gets behind them and perhaps crucially is less quick to get on the players’ backs when a pass goes astray.
Alves gets all that. But he knows if Rangers are to eke anything out of this fraught season that has seen the man who brought him to Scotland, Pedro Caixinha, axed and the Ibrox board still to appoint a permanent replacement almost two months later they have to be stronger at Ibrox.
And that means, he insisted, staying calm when the pressure is coming from the stands. Resisting the urge to play the ball too quickly or lumping it long and playing into the hands of the opposition.
They were guilty of both against St Johnstone and got what they deserved – a 3-1 defeat that saw them slip back to third in the table.
The Portuguese international admitted the fact the defeat came on the back of four straight wins, including back-to-back victories over Aberdeen and a hard-fought success against Hibs, made the defeat even more galling.
He said: “It’s very difficult. We are disappointed after four wins. It shouldn’t happen, especially at home. But we are trying to do better. We need to learn from our mistakes, keep moving forward and try to win our next games.
“It’s difficult to find a reason. We had the motivation after four wins.
“Sometimes these things happen in football. We need to watch the game again, see what we did wrong and try not to make the same mistakes.
“It is very disappointing to lose
“We are always playing in a full stadium. It’s amazing. Even in away games we have a lot of support but with a big team there is pressure, especially when we concede goals. “We need to know how to handle the pressure because the pressure will always be there for the big teams. If we know how to handle the pressure better we can have better results.
“Sometimes we need to have more patience with the ball. Sometimes it is not the best way to play fast. Sometimes we need to move the ball and wait for a better chance or different solution.
“The players know how to handle it but it’s always a difficult situation when you need to score.
“We want to make everything faster but we need to be confident
We need to watch the game back, see what we did wrong and not repeat the errors
and patient to change results. When we concede a goal we have to be patient, move the ball and wait for a better solution or a better decision. It’s about handling pressure, being patient and believing we can score.”
Alves denied Rangers took Saints more lightly than Aberdeen and said: “I don’t think we change the mentality for different games.
“When you play for Rangers you always need to have the motivation and be prepared to play against all the teams. We have the quality to show we can do it. We need the support of everybody. We still believe we can reach the position we want and the main goals we want.
“We need to think game by game, be stronger as a team and not concede so many goals.”
And he refused to use the absence of experienced trio Lee Wallace, Kenny Miller and Graham Dorrans as an excuse for this latest damaging defeat.
The 36-year-old added: “Of course these players are important but everybody together can do it. We need everybody to improve the team.
“We need experience but also young talent to bring something to the team. Sometimes experience is not enough. We also need quality, speed, a lot of things I believe the team have.”
His interim boss Murty was less than happy with the goals Rangers conceded on Saturday but Alves believes credit must go to the quality of St Johnstone’s finishing.
He said: “From what I remember of the goals I don’t believe they were mistakes.
“The first goal was a good shot then there was a good header.
“Sometimes it is not just mistakes. Sometimes you need to value what the opponent did and the quality.
“I don’t believe they were mistakes but we need to be more focused and more away from our box to prevent the counter-attack.
“We are always attacking but we also need to prepare to defend when we lose the ball.”